This blog is a grand summary of everything we’re not, and what you need to know before working with us. If it were up to us, every agency would have one of these. 

Your guide to what we are not

Agencies talk a lot about what they are  – “We’re Different!” – but infrequently do they clearly define what they are not. When we’re onboarding a new vendor at Zulu this is one of the first things we seek to understand, because it tells a more transparent story about how that company operates. 

Every agency should have one of these. A grand summary of what they’re not, and what they hate. Since agencies all say more or less the same thing, the efficiency of our working relationship hinges largely on your understanding of what we can’t do, rather than what we can. If you’ve been around the circuit a few times, you know what we mean.

We are not:

• Your in-house team: This is where most agency/client relationships hit friction. You can hire us to define goals, build a vision, execute, and deliver – but things fall apart when the brand attempts to oversee the creative process. Management bloat creeps in and gets in the way, draining the project of resources on both sides. Your in-house team is ideally suited for that type of day-to-day and organic execution which requires frequent revisions and hands-on collaboration. 
• Organic experts: we build collateral and digital experiences for all your shoppers. We engineer flows to streamline the purchase journey and remove friction. But we aren’t a retainer team to manage your weekly emails, social posts, or respond to customer queries. We’ll build resources to support your organic team, but we won’t work directly with them.
• Social media specialists: it’s 2024, of course we play in the social space. Bring us your influencer campaigns, giveaways and reels – we’ll find the best way to integrate them to the funnel, but we’re not going to take on or manage these programs. If you need a vetted partner who can help with that, we can point you in the right direction. 
• A good fit for Marketing Directors ( who want to manage a team): tell us what you want at a goals level, and we’ll deliver results. But we aren’t here to cross collaborate with your internal stakeholders on a weekly call and rack up 60 part email chains and 200lbs of bloat.  
• Activation builders: we got our start in content and event activation. We can advise on best practices for lead gen, and we frequently develop email/sms flows for activation popups. But we won't design your activation program, build the tent, or show up with banners and flags. Sorry, been there, done that :) 
• Short term thinkers: we approach work with intention, which means viewing each initiative from the greater context of the entire marketing ecosystem. Our ability to deliver outstanding results begins with research and intelligence gathering. While most firms take your initiative and get right to work, we see that as reckless. We’ll first consider all the variables, downstream impacts and liabilities before a single character of code or graphic file is written. While we execute, our operators consider the upstream impacts after launch, and beyond. In the long run, this approach will save you thousands, and help avoid untold bumps in the road. But, if you’re simply looking for a one-off executor to jump in and go, these folks can help you out.    
• Yes men. We’re here to help you win, but sometimes the road to success is uncomfortable. If we think your approach won’t work, we’ll push back. If we’re really sure, we might just say ‘no’. Likewise, we’ll push harder than other firms for an initiative we really believe in. Remember, only when you win, do we win. We won’t push back often, but when we do please trust us. There's a good reason. 
  

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What we hate:

• Ego: ECommerce is all about moving quickly and following the data. All too often, marketers put more weight on their personal bias (opinions), than the objective customer signals from the sales funnel (facts). For many brand leaders, it’s often more about being right than delivering what’s actually best for the brand. Ego – not technical implementation –  is probably the #1 thing that undercuts progress. If this sounds familiar, we might not be a good match. 
• Mediocrity: We work with brands that want to win, and will put in the work to reach the top. Winning is hard, uncomfortable, and often requires going outside your comfort zone. A high-performing eCommerce program requires all parties to be on the same page and aligned around that larger goal. If your goal is simply to ‘check the box’ and compete in the marketplace, there are plenty of agencies who will happily take your money. 
• Bloat: Organic marketing agencies are inseparable from bloat – and it’s not their fault. It’s simply an outcome of batching work through an outside vendor. The more specific your needs, the more bloat, because this information needs to be delineated down a telephone chain of account executives, project managers, and executors who all need to be briefed and managed. Every revision note goes back up and down this chain, and by the time you get what you need, 80% of the budget is expended by management time. It’s a waste of time for all parties, and why we tell clients they should never hire an agency for organic work. 
• Changing visions: Indecisiveness is the enemy in digital commerce – right up there with bloat. We work with brands who know what they want, can articulate the vision, and are able to trust a third party to execute. It’s our job to identify challenges, develop solutions, and deliver outcomes. But our operators are only as good as the master vision they’re following. When that vision shifts constantly, the integrity of our work product becomes collateral damage. 
• Opinions: In eCommerce, your opinion is the enemy of progress, even if it’s correct. Data drives growth, and that intelligence comes from analysis, not your innate bias or feelings. Like Wall Street, emotions lead to opinions, which lead to tactical trading errors. We let data – not bias– show us where to go. Read more about our approach to opinions.

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Zulu Core was created to solve opinion soup. Core evolves based on shopper behavior (data), not stakeholder theories. We use live intelligence and a structured testing process to unlock new growth in your customer funnel.